Former England captain Alastair Cook officially received knighthood for his services to the game from the Queen at Buckingham Palace on Tuesday. Along with Cook, former England rugby captain Bill Beaumont was also knighted during the ceremony.
Cook is the second cricketer since Ian Botham to receive this honour. He retired from the game after England’s series win against India. He bowed out after scoring a century against India in England’s 3-1 Test series win.
“Seeing my name up there in whatever capacity - you just don’t get used to it. You never get used to it and I don’t think I will ever get used to seeing my name with a Sir before it. It is just weird, when you are told you have to just walk and kneel, that you should get so nervous,” Cook was quoted as saying by ESPNCricinfo.
{{/usCountry}}“Seeing my name up there in whatever capacity - you just don’t get used to it. You never get used to it and I don’t think I will ever get used to seeing my name with a Sir before it. It is just weird, when you are told you have to just walk and kneel, that you should get so nervous,” Cook was quoted as saying by ESPNCricinfo.
{{/usCountry}}“I have played cricket in front of many thousands and done okay but you get just as nervous just walking and kneeling, which is very strange,” he further added.
Cook is England’s highest run-scorer in Test cricket. He scored12,472 runs in161 He has 33 centuries and 57 half-centuries in Tests. Also, he has featured in 92 ODIs and four T20Is, scoring 3271 runs in the limited-overs formats.
He made his Test debut in 2006 against India and captained England for a record 59 Test matches and led the country to 24 wins in the longest format of the game. He has appeared in a total of 160 Tests for the national side.